Kenyan security forces are securing the Nairobi shopping centre attacked by suspected al-Shabab militants, as the stand-off enters its fourth day

BBC News

A senior police source said early on Tuesday the operation was “over”, however journalists at the scene have reported sporadic gunfire at the mall.

There has been no official confirmation the siege is over. Kenya’s president is expected to make a statement shortly.

At least 65 people have been killed, including three soldiers.

The Kenyan Red Cross says 51 people are still missing, and the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse says mortuaries in the capital are expecting to receive more bodies.

There are reports that part of the roof at the Westgate shopping centre has collapsed, following a fierce blaze on Monday.

The Somali Islamist al-Shabab movement said it had carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia.

Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has said that those behind the attacks “must be held accountable.”

Meanwhile, Kenya’s foreign minister said “two or three” Americans and a British woman were among the attackers.

In an interview with the US TV programme PBS Newshour, Amina Mohamed said the Americans were 18 or 19 years old, of Somali or Arab origin, and lived “in Minnesota and one other place”.

She said the Briton was a woman who had “done this many times before”.

Ms Mohamed appeared to contradict earlier comments from Kenya’s interior minister, who suggested that all the attackers were men – though some may have been dressed as women.

Ms Mohamed’s remarks have fuelled media speculation about the possible involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of the men who carried out attacks on London’s transport system on 7 July 2005.

British officials said they would not be drawn on the identity of the attackers while investigations continued.